A lock in general and a panic lock in particular are, as known, provided with a latch bolt and a dead bolt and a turnable finger plate for operating the latch bolt and a turnable panic plate for operating the dead bolt, and these finger plates can be operated by means of a key or a handle on the inside and/or outside of the door.
The latch bolt is always provided with a bevel that in an open door is oriented in the direction of the door frame in the door opening, all such that when the door is closed again, the latch bolt is automatically pushed in and goes into the lock.
A panic lock is used in an emergency door for example, whereby in the event of an emergency or panic it must always be specifically possible to open the door from the inside towards the outside by means of a handle, even without a key, while from the outside it is not possible to enter inside by means of a handle on the outside, unless the person has the key or after a specific operation or combination of operations with the handle and/or with the key on the inside.
As with a panic lock the handle on the inside and a handle on the outside must not enable the same operations, it is typical for such panic locks to be equipped with two handle followers that can turn with respect one another, and of which one handle follower is intended to be able to be operated by means of a handle on the inside of the door and the other handle follower is intended to be operated by means of a handle on the outside of the door.
Panic locks are known in two variants, i.e. a panic lock for mounting on the left side of the emergency door, viewed from the inside of the door, and a panic lock for mounting on the right side. Depending on the mounting, the panic lock will have the one side or the other side oriented towards the inside, more specifically towards the space on the side of the door from which a panic opening of the door must be possible.
These variants differ from one another through the bevel of the latch bolt being oriented towards the one or the other side of the panic lock, more specifically towards the side of the panic lock that is intended to be oriented to the inside, and through the handle follower on the one or the other side of the panic lock, more specifically on the side oriented towards the inside, being constructed with the panic functions of an inside handle follower, whereby this inside handle follower is coupled to the finger plates so that it can turn, while the outside handle follower can freely turn with respect to these finger plates, at least insofar the door is not opened with the inside handle follower or the key.
A disadvantage is that both variants must be manufactured and kept in stock.
Furthermore these variants cannot be exchanged, for example in the event of an incorrect order or reuse.
A panic lock is already known from EP 1,743,994 that enables conversion between the two variants, so that the same lock can be used as a left lock or a right lock.
To this end the latch bolt is provided in a holder and can turn through 180° between two positions, whereby the bevel is oriented to the one or the other side of the panic lock.
In addition, for the conversion of the panic lock of EP 1,743,994 a screw is provided that can be moved from one side of the lock to the other side of the lock, in order to turnably couple either the one or the other handle follower, depending on the intended situation, to the finger plates and to uncouple the other handle follower from the turning movement of the finger plates.
A panic lock that enables such a conversion is also known from the Belgian patent application submitted on the same date as the present patent application in the name of the same applicant, whereby in this case the conversion is possible by moving a screw from one position to another position on the same side of the panic lock, such that the conversion is simpler than in the case of EP 1,743,994 and there is also less risk of the said screw getting lost during fitting.
However, a disadvantage remains that a screw must be screwed in and out, whereby it is not excluded that during this operation the screw is lost or falls into the lock case, which requires the lock to be dismantled in order to recover the screw and to prevent blocking of the lock.
Another disadvantage is that a mistake while fitting the screw in the one or other position is always possible and that, when this is not noticed, the panic lock will operate incorrectly and the door will always open from the outside and not from the inside, which is of course an undesired situation as flight is then impossible from the inside of the door in an emergency situation, and undesired access to the building from the outside is provided to anybody.
If the mistake is noticed when testing the dead bolt after assembly, then in any case the panic lock must be taken off the door to rectify the mistake and then be fitted again.